American Ambulance Corps collar badge : Lieutenant G Clune Accession Number: REL26631.002

Description

American Ambulance Corps left collar badge. The badge is made up of a khaki wool base with a flaming grenade embroidered onto the cloth with red cotton. Inside the grenade is embroidered the letter 'A'.

Contextual Description

Associated with the service of 585 Private George Clune who was born in Cumberland, Sydney, NSW in 1889. Clune enlisted on 12 August 1914 into the Australian Naval and Military Expeditionary Force (ANMEF), bound for German New Guinea and the islands of the Bismarck Archipelago. He was posted to G Company of the 1st (Tropical) Battalion and was allocated the service number 585 and rank of private. Clune embarked with the ANMEF from Cockatoo Island aboard HMAT Berrima on 18 August. The force landed at Palm Island for a period of further training and preparations.

The ANMEF landed at New Britain in September - the initial force, mainly naval personnel, landing at Kabakaul at dawn on 11 September. Clune went ashore a day later with the main force at Herbertshohe. The German forces surrendered on 13 September and the Union Jack was raised over Rabaul the same day.

Clune returned to Australia with the first contingent in late February. He was discharged on 4 March 1915. He was rejected for service with the AIF and later, the Canadian Armed Forces. He volunteered to join the American Ambulance Corps in 1916 and was accepted. This unit was made up of approximately 600 volunteers who paid for their own passage to France and provided their own uniforms and equipment. The corps began its work under the joint auspices of the British Red Cross and St John Ambulance.

The corps operated four hundred cars from their two hospitals which were at Neuilly-sur-Seine and Juilly-sur-Marne. He was stationed at the Corps Headquarters in Paris and was promoted to lieutenant for his work in the field. He returned to Australia in early 1917. In 1942 he served with the Naval Auxiliary Patrol in Australia.

Details

Accession Number
REL26631.002
Maker
Unknown
Classification
Heraldry
Object Type
Badge
Physical Description
Material: Cotton
Material: Wool
Measurement
Overall: 58 mm height x 25 mm width x 2 mm depth
Date Made
c 1916
Whole/Part
Whole
Item Count
1
Copyright
Copyright not applicable

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Accession REL26631.002

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Last modified: 5 October 2023 - 5.09 am